Goryczkowa Czuba

Goryczkowa Czuba (Slovak Goričková or Goričkova kopa) is a 1,912 m summit in the Western Tatras, on the main Tatra ridge along the Polish-Slovak border. It lies between Kasprowy Wierch to the east and the Czerwone Wierchy to the west: the Wysokie Wrótka pass (1,847 m) separates it from neighbouring Wysoka Sucha Czuba, and the Goryczkowa Przełęcz Świńska (1,801 m) from Pośredni Goryczkowy Wierch. The summit has two tops separated by a notch about 5 m deep; the eastern one is higher by less than half a metre. Some older surveys gave 1,913 m.

On the Polish side a long ridge called Kondratowy Wierch runs from the summit down to the Bystra valley, dividing the Sucha Kondracka and Goryczkowa Świńska valleys. The steepest slopes are the north-western ones above Dolina Sucha Kondracka — by climbers' standards almost a 200 m face. On the Slovak side the slopes drop into the Tichá dolina, nearly 700 m below.

How to get there / trails

The red ridge trail from Kasprowy Wierch along the main Tatra ridge and the southern slopes of the Suche Czuby to the pass below Kopa Kondracka runs past the summit. According to Polish Wikipedia the trail bypasses the top itself, traversing its southern slope (about 40 m from the highest point according to OpenStreetMap); the walk from Kasprowy Wierch to the pass below Kopa Kondracka takes about 1 h 40 min, 1 h 20 min back. Kasprowy Wierch lies about 1.7 km to the east and is served by the cable car from Kuźnice in Zakopane.

From the Slovak side you can reach the ridge by the yellow trail from Podbanské through the Tichá dolina to Sucha Przełęcz. From the pass below Kopa Kondracka marked trails continue to the Czerwone Wierchy and down into the Kondratowa valley.

What you can see from the summit

According to Slovak Wikipedia the summit gives an all-round view of many peaks of the Western and High Tatras and the surrounding valleys, and in good conditions part of the Low Tatras and the Orava Beskids. To the north you see Giewont, Suchy Wierch and Krokiew above Zakopane, to the south Kriváň and Veľká kopa, to the east Świnica, Beskid and Kasprowy Wierch.

Nature and history

The name does not come from the gentian (Polish "goryczka"), common in the Tatras, but from the Hala Goryczkowa pasture, which was named after Goryczka, a surname popular among the Górale highlanders. The slopes were once intensively grazed. On Hacquet's map of 1796 the peak was marked as Gorecnowa.

The summit area and northern slopes are built of granitoids, while the southern slopes, from about halfway down, are limestone: here, amid the limestone Western Tatras, lies the so-called Goryczkowa crystalline island of granite and gneiss, crossed by numerous hydrothermal veins. Interesting Tatra flora grows among the rocks, including rare species such as mountain houseleek, orange hawkweed, the Sudeten yellow violet and the least primrose; harebells and green false hellebore are abundant.

Safety, season and rules

The slopes of Goryczkowa Czuba are considered particularly avalanche-prone: avalanches run into all three valleys below it. In winter and spring this danger is very real on the traverse of the southern slope, so check the avalanche bulletin. The ridge is exposed to wind, fog and thunderstorms.

The summit lies in the Tatra National Park on both sides of the border (Poland's TPN and Slovakia's TANAP), and its southern slope in the Tichá dolina national nature reserve. TPN charges an entry fee; walking is allowed only on marked trails, so do not leave the trail for the top itself. TANAP's high-mountain marked trails are closed from 1 November to 31 May. On the Polish side help comes from TOPR: 985 or +48 601 100 300; on the Slovak side from HZS: 18 300 (+421 18 300). The general emergency number is 112.

Interesting facts

• The first winter ascent was made by Feliks Antoniak and Józef Lesiecki in 1908.
• Goryczkowa Czuba is one of the peaks of the so-called crystalline island, where granite rests on a limestone base.

Photos: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY 2.5; Opioła Jerzy, CC BY-SA 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 3.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0; Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons.